El Camino Real Attracts Ten

The horses that ran one-two-three in the California Derby on Jan. 16 will meet again Saturday in the $150,000 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields.

Ten 3-year-olds are signed up for the 29th running of the El Camino Real Derby, which will be run at approximately 3:45 p.m.  Northern California’s premier steppingstone to the Triple Crown events, the El Camino Real Derby is the featured seventh race on a nine-race program that begins at 12:45 p.m.

Fans attending Golden Gate Fields Saturday will receive a free El Camino Real Derby T-shirt that features the colorful silks of previous winners of the race.  Grandstand and Club House gates open at 10 a.m.  The Turf Club opens at 11 a.m. 

Ranger Heartley won the 1 1/16-miles Cal Derby by three-quarters of a length over Connemara, who took second by a neck over Thomas Baines.  That trio, along with Cal Derby fifth-place finisher Our Minesweeper, will renew their rivalry in the 1 1/8-miles El Camino Real Derby.

Connemara, trained by Todd Pletcher, suffered his first loss in the Cal Derby.  A chestnut colt by Giant’s Causeway, Connemara made a winning debut at Turfway Park in Kentucky on Oct. 4 and then captured an allowance race at Santa Anita on Nov. 4. 

Hall of Fame jockey Russell Baze rode Connemara in the Cal Derby and he is sticking with the colt in the El Camino Real Derby.

Thomas Baines ran third in the Eddie Logan Stakes at Santa Anita prior to finishing in the show spot in the Cal Derby.  Doug O’Neill trains Thomas Baines, a Kentucky-bred son of Johannesburg.

The field for the El Camino Real Derby, in post position order, is as follows: Haimish Hy, Michael Martinez will ride; Thomas Baines, Tyler Baze; Posse Power, Frank Alvarado; Very Fair, William Antongeorgi, III; Fog Alert, Chad Schvaneveldt; Our Minesweeper, Frank Alvarado; Ranger Heartley, Julio Garcia; Connemara, Russell Baze;

Bert’ N The Group, Juan Hernandez; and Jairzihno, Brice Blanc.